County proposes to manage arena

A county-owned facility that has brought visitors and revenue to both the county and local businesses came under fire at Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.

A discussion that started small – county administrator Michael Thompson giving the Board an update about Battle Arena’s contract for credit card services – escalated quickly to a motion on the floor to terminate the county’s contract with a nonprofit board which oversees operations at the facility.

As the June 30 meeting opened, Thompson told supervsors that he, along with arena director Steve Sosebee, had been working to get a credit card terminal at the arena.

“I’ve been working with three vendors – First Security, Covenant and E Payment Services,” Thompson said. “I’ve been receiving push back from Steve Sosebee.”